An unrelenting blizzard expected to dump up to 2 or even 3 feet of snow paralyzed Colorado just five days before Christmas, shutting down interstate highways, the airport, shopping malls and the post office Wednesday.

The National Weather Service predicted 6 to 10 inches of snow would fall overnight for totals of 16 to 30 inches in the Denver metro area. Blizzard warnings are scheduled to last until noon today for the metro area and Eastern Plains as the storm moves out of the state.

Gov. Bill Owens declared a disaster emergency, activating the Colorado National Guard to head out with Humvees and Sno-Cats as thousands of people braved the commute, only to get stranded on highways or stuck in massive gridlock for hours.

Nonessential state employees were asked to stay home until Friday. State offices will be closed today.

“Oh my gosh, it was an adventure like I’ve never had before,” Mary Zamora said of her three-hour bus ride from downtown Denver to Westminster. “After a while people were saying ‘I’m getting hungry, are we there yet?”‘

Many schools, businesses and government offices planned to stay closed today as the snow was expected to keep piling up.

The storm reached blizzard proportions, the Weather Service said, with frequent wind gusts up to 40 mph blowing the snow and reducing visibility to almost nothing at times.

“We can’t overcome Mother Nature,” said Al DeSarro, spokesman for the Colorado region of the U.S. Postal Service, which halted deliveries and shuttered several hundred post offices from Monument to the Kansas border.

Denver’s Regional Transportation District suspended bus service and reduced light-rail runs at 7 p.m., the first time since the March 2003 blizzard that the region’s mass-transit system stalled out. RTD said it would “resume service as conditions permit” and could not guarantee it would run buses today.

All major airlines at Denver International Airport canceled their flights by afternoon, stranding up to 5,000 travelers and airport workers.

The Colorado Department of Transportation closed dozens of major highways, including Interstate 25 from Denver south to New Mexico and north to Wyoming, I-76 to Nebraska and I-70 from E-470 to Kansas.

Shelters for stranded motorists were set up at Strasburg Community Church, the Douglas County Fairgrounds and elsewhere as authorities urged people not to leave their homes.

“This is a dangerous storm,” Castle Rock Fire Chief Art Morales said. “Conditions are very dangerous for driving, for walking and being outdoors. Stay inside until the storm passes.”

The storm jammed homeless shelters with overflow crowds, but shelter officials said they turned nobody away.

At the Salvation Army’s Crossroads shelter on 29th Street, shelter officials expected up to 315 individuals, more than double the usual number of beds, while at the Denver Rescue Mission, officials planned to use 100 cots in addition to the 200 beds in dorm rooms.

Such a crippling storm was a blow to the last-minute holiday shopping rush. Several malls were shut down in the Denver metro area, including Cherry Creek, Park Meadows and FlatIron Crossing.

“Clearly, Mother Nature has not dealt us the best hand today, but it’s better that it happened today than later in the week,” said Cherry Creek Shopping Center manager Nick LeMasters.

In downtown Denver, thousands of workers closed up shop and headed home by early afternoon.

Just two hairstylists out of eight made it to work at Shear Productions along the 16th Street Mall. But that didn’t matter since about 20 clients canceled their appointments, said receptionist Christen Amdahl.

“It’s like the city is shutting down,” she said. “It’s fun, but it’s kind of a hassle.”

Denver’s largest snowfalls

Jennifer Brown is an investigative reporter for The Denver Post, where she has worked since 2005. She has written about the child welfare system, mental health, education and politics. She previously worked for The Associated Press, The Tyler Morning Telegraph in Texas, and the Hungry Horse News in Montana.

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